1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to needles, and, more particularly, to needles for sewing and for stringing which includes an eye which is substantially the length of the needle.
2. Description of the Prior Art The proverbial "eye of a needle" has provided problems for those who use needles to sew and to thread objects for a time span which is probably about equal to that of the existence of needles. There are many types of needles, each of which is designed for a specific use, such as relatively small needles used with thread for ordinary sewing, somewhat larger needles with larger eyes, and usually blunted points, used for crewel and the like, larger needles, usually curved, for use in upholstery work, and longer type needles used for stringing beads and the like. Obviously, there are many other types of needles for specialized use, such as for surgery, preparing canvas, and the like. Moreover, there are many types of machine needles, such as used for ordinary household sewing, commercial sewing, leather working, tent and sail making, and the like. However, with respect to the types of needles encountered in normal household usage, there are basic similarities, such as relatively short and thin needles used for ordinary sewing, larger needles which may be used for crewel and the like, and perhaps longer and curved needles used for upholstery or stringing purposes.
Most needle users have problems in threading a needle. As a person gets older, the problem of farsightedness increases and it is increasingly difficult to accommodate the vision to focus properly on a needle eye. Moreover, physical ailments, such as shaking of hands or fingers or arthritic problems also increase the problems inherent in threading needles. With use of different size threads, problems can also increase when trying to use one or two needles with various sizes of threads. The use of yarn, such as in crewel, also causes problems with respect to threading ordinary needles. Obviously, the list of problems increases with the various uses one applies to needles and with the different sizes and types of threads or yarns. Since these problems are not new, attempts have been made in the past to solve some of the problems, such as using needles with elongated eyes, split needles, and the like. Such examples of attempts to solve some of the problems will be discussed below with reference to specific patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 386,723 (Smith) discloses a needle made of a single piece of wire doubled upon itself and twisted throughout its entire length. Throughout the length, at certain intervals thereon, are open portions comprising eyes. The wire is appropriately soldered to secure it together and to form a point. The purpose of this needle is for use with wax cord, such as in shoe making or harness making. The waxed cord was first passed through one of the eyes, then wrapped around the needle and passed through an adjacent eye, etc. This apparatus was designed for a specific use, and is not adaptable to household use. For example, the eyes are substantially larger than the diameter of the needle to accommodate specific waxed thread. Moreover, multiple eyes are required, again to meet a specific purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 568,418 (Strain) discloses split needles of several designs, but each of which includes an enlarged diameter portion. A portion of the needle is split to accommodate a thread therethrough. The slot or split in the portion of the needle receives the thread to be used with the needle. This type of needle is expensive to manufacture and, due to the particular design, is particularly adapted for sewing machine use. Only one portion of the needle eye is flexible and moves to allow the insertion of thread. The method of making the split needle, and the results obtained thereby, would not lend itself to use in a sewing situation where it is desired to pass the entire needle through the cloth due to the juncture of the split portion with the rest of the needle body. That is, the needle body would snag at the juncture of the slit portion so as to cause problems in the sewing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,070,941 (Bell) discloses another type of split needle which is somewhat similar to the needle apparatus of the '418 (Strain) patent. In this patent a portion of the needle is split to allow a thread to be inserted therein. However, the split portion has the same inherent problem with respect to drawing the needle through cloth as does U.S. Pat. No. 568,418. The juncture of the split portion with the body of the needle causes snags and the like and is accordingly not practical for household purposes. Moreover, the snag problem increases as the diameter of the thread used by the apparatus increases.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,167,080 (Mason) discloses needle threading apparatus which illustrated a threader having two wire portions joined to form a thread receiving loop or slot. Several embodiments are disclosed. The needle threader discloses primarily two wires, each of different diameter, joined together at the ends to form a single threading apparatus which may be spread apart to receive a thread which in turn is inserted through a needle of a conventional type. The patent also discloses another embodiment of the apparatus which is made by slotting a resilient metal bar inwardly from the ends of the bar. This results in a relatively flexible center portion and in relatively inflexible end portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,758,648 (Dodds) discloses needles formed of a length of wire, bent on itself and secured together, as by welding, to form a unitary needle with an elongated eye portion. The resulting needle is sufficiently resilient to spread apart to receive a thread and yet is of sufficient rigidity to be used as a needle. However, the doubled over portion or elongated eye of the needle appears to be permanently spread apart and is accordingly not flexible enough to maintain a hold or grip on the needle throughout the length of the eye. That is, the needle provides a permanently elongated eye rather than a biased eye throughout the length of the needle, which may be spread apart to receive a thread but which has sufficient bias to inherently hold a thread in the eye.
Another embodiment of the needle discloses a portion of the elongated eye comprising three segments. In addition to the continuous outer portion of the eye, there is a flexible center member secured only at one end of the member which is adapted to receive and hold the thread when the center portion is spread apart from the eye portion.